Have a clear rationale as to why you are choosing the stakeholders you have chosen and the number you have chosen. There is no correct number, and for guidance on this, please see the first webinar in our webinar series.

Some examples of templates are provided in the materials and resources below (Water for Women, 2020):

• What specific change happened? What types of change does the story illustrate (transformative processes and/or outcomes)? Consider positive and/or negative, intended and/or unintended, as well as direct and/or indirect outcomes of your project.
• Who is the target group benefiting from the change (e.g., women, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, and other socially excluded group/s)?
• Who was involved in bringing about the change? Consider the role/s and relationship/s of actors directly and/or indirectly involved, and those who may have enabled, facilitated, or supported the change in some way, as well as those who may have hindered or blocked the change.
• What is causing the change? What relative role did your project play in bringing about the change?  What other factors may have had an influence? Consider the interaction between your project and other factors in bringing about the change/s.
• What is it specifically about this change that is especially significant for your project? How prevalent is this type of change in your project area and how did you determine that?
• How do you know that this change occurred? Identify any evidence to demonstrate this change and any gaps or assumptions that you have made in determining the contribution of your project and activities.
• Identify any other surprises or lessons that came about from this process?

Collecting stories requires a very open approach to interviewing, great listening skills, and thorough note taking. It also requires that your story collectors encourage the story tellers to provide more detail and examples (probing) without leading them to a particular answer.

When you analyse your stories you could use a variety of approaches including workshops with post-it notes and mapping ideas on flip chart paper, voting, panel meetings, and using qualitative data analysis software such as NVivo or Dedoose or Dovetail.

Create a panel and choose the three most powerful and impactful stories of transformation as explained by the interviewee, which are connected to the organisation or program’s Theory of Change. Be sure to capture the discussion that occurs during the analysis, and keep track of why you found certain stories to be the most transformational

Use your stories of transformation (with interviewees consent) to promote the positive changes that have occurred, and why these changes occurred to inform others and promote a culture of learning and feedback. Also ensure that you let your interviewees know how their stories have been used and how they have been impactful in the program (feedback and beneficence). You can also use your stories to create a dialogue about what is agreed to be transformative change, and/or the journey towards it (e.g., through an adapted most significant change process).

While stories of transformation are best collected in person, they can also be collected through participatory methods.

Keeping in mind differences in access and literacy, think about different ways to facilitate and plan this approach.

See an example of participatory activities using Google Slide.

Learn more on the digital tools page.